#32Rhode Island

4.45 out of 10 in Taxation and Regulation

6.36 out of 10 in Workforce Quality

7.09 out of 10 in Living Environment

CEOs Stepping Up

In December 2016, some of Rhode Island’s most powerful CEOs formed Partnership for Rhode Island, looking to bolster the state’s drifting economy. GE announced it would open a GE Digital information technology center in Providence to develop new software applications for high-performance computing. The state is offering more than a dozen incentives, such as an innovation tax credit, a 4% manufacturing investment tax credit, a 10% high-performance manufacturing investment tax credit and the Rebuild Rhode Island Tax Credit.

Key Incentives

Qualified Jobs Tax Incentive Credit: Offers tax credits of up to $7,500 per year for 10 years to companies that relocate or expand jobs in the state.

Rebuild Rhode Island: Offers up to a 30% investment in a project’s cost to cover financing gaps in real estate projects, including commercial office, industrial, residential and mixed-use developments.

InnovationVouchers: Offers enterprises with less than 500 employees grants of up to $50,000 to fund R&D assistance from in-state institutional partners, including universities, research centers and medical centers.

EDCs

Rhode Island Commerce Corp.: commerceri.com

Commerce RI: edc.ri.gov

Greater Rhode Island Economic Development: greaterri.com

Providence Economic Development: providenceeconomicdevelopment.net

Highlighted Program or Initiative

Real Jobs Rhode Island is a workforce development program that features 33 sector partnerships across 16 industries in more than 150 skills training programs. Since 2015, the program has trained nearly a thousand workers for 300 companies.

Big Deals

GE Digital announced in August 2016 it will hire up to 300 industry professionals at a new office in Providence.

Johnson & Johnson announced in January 2017 it will create 75 new full-time jobs and locate one of its health technology centers in Providence.

Agoda Travel Operations USA announced in February 2017 it will create 200 new jobs at its first U.S.-based customer experience group office in Providence.

United Natural Foods announced in February 2017 it will create up to 270 new full-time jobs and expand its corporate headquarters in Providence.

Big Companies

C-Suite Testimonials

“We were being wooed by two other states, but the ability to collaborate quickly with state leadership, the governor, the various mayors, the leadership in the legislature was much easier than it was in many other states.” —Don Sweitzer, Chairman, IGT Global Solutions

“There are some great colleges and universities in the state. As a matter of fact, we punch well above our weight for the quality of the institutions in Rhode Island, and that’s a big draw for us to be here.” —Bob Dimuccio, President and CEO, Amica Mutual Insurance

“The cost of living and the quality of life here are unsurpassed versus any other location.” —Tom Gilbane Jr., Chairman and CEO, Gilbane and Gilbane Building

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